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28/01/2013

I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Mine involved lots of seeing friends, good food and sunshine, yes SUNSHINE! I had almost forgotten about the sun after nearly two weeks of grey, snow filled skies, but Sunday’s weather more than made up for it. The boyfriend and I got up earlier than usual and headed to Brighton Marina for a look around their weekly car boot, followed by a walk along the marina playing our usual ‘which boat would you have?’ game. It’s not quite as exciting as the main seafront by the pier but it’s perfect for a quiet Sunday walk, the best bit is to go right to the end where you can see all the fishing gear and look out over the marina wall (the black and white image) – we couldn’t stand there long though as the sea spray kept coming over the wall towards us! We rounded it off with brunch in Cafe Rouge, where the windows look out over the boats, full English for him and delicious French toast for me. Yum.

23/01/2013

Whilst snowed in on Sunday I decided it was the perfect opportunity to do a bit of baking and try out one of my Christmas presents - a cookie stamper! I won’t lie, stamping cookie dough is probably one of the most satisfying things you can do while baking. And although it does rather state the obvious I love that it also reminds me of Alice in Wonderland, Mad hatters tea party anyone?

As you’d imagine the stamper is super easy to use, just dust with flour and stamp onto balls of cookie dough. Even though it’s called a cookie stamper it’s really more for biscuits (must be American) as you obviously can’t make anything with chunks in or they won’t stamp and it also needs to be something that doesn’t rise too much in oven or the design will stretch and disappear...

With this in mind I decided to use the recipe that came with it, but added orange zest and juice to make flavoured biscuits rather than vanilla.

17/01/2013

I received these gorgeous swan earrings for Christmas and as you may have guessed from the title of this blog I love anything with a bird or feather print. But sadly I don’t have pierced ears; I know this is quite rare right?! I DID have them pierced several times over the years but every time they appeared to be allergic to all manner of metals, I even tried completely plastic earrings before finally giving up. Clearly it wasn’t meant to be! I usually pass earring presents onto a friend or relative but these swans were just too pretty to give up on. As they were only £2.50 (thanks to my male friend for leaving the price on) I figured I’d have a go at turning them into hair slides. This is also for anyone with a collection of odd and spare earrings after one of the pair has been lost.

Using the pliers cut off the earring back as close to the stud as possible. If you are left with anything sharp use the metal file to sand down the back until smooth (I found one in my Dad’s garage but sandpaper would also work).

Next place stud facedown with hair slide onto, use blue tack if needed to keep the hair slide balanced. Then carefully superglue, I used araldite but would not recommend it – had to apply two coats as the first was not strong enough.

13/01/2013

Ever heard of craftivism? Nope I hadn’t either until I read a brilliant, inspiring blog post by Hilary over at CraftblogUK earlier this week. Basically you get to be creative, in the comfort of your own home, whilst helping those who really need it, what's not to love?

Craftivism is a form of activism through crafts, you can find out more on the Craftivist Collective website. Their latest project the #imapiece jigsaw supports Save the Children’s Race Against Hunger Campaign. Save the Children are asking the UK Government to prioritise hunger at the G8 summit later this year. The Craftivist Collective will be creating a giant art instillation out of jigsaw pieces to deonstrate support of those across the country to Save the Children's campaign. It’s easy to join in, simply download a template, information pack and sign the petition – all found here.

This is my first piece which I’ll send to be included in the final jigsaw art instillation, before making another next weekend to send to my local MP. As it’s the thought that counts the pieces really don’t have to be perfect and it was nice to make something for a cause rather than as a gift or for myself for a change!

To me ‘we can all make a difference’ means that we’re all capable of making a difference in the world, so why always leave it to others. I’m a piece of the solution.

07/01/2013

While the glue dries on my first DIY of 2013 I thought now would be the perfect opportunity to show you my favourites from 2012. Last year was my most creative ever and I hope to try even more new things this year. The blogging world constantly inspires me to start new craft projects, if only I had enough time to try them all! So in no particular order...

01/01/2013

Happy New Year to all! Seeing as it’s a new year, I’ve been spending some time looking back at last year and forward to the next. In just under two weeks my little blog will be one year old and I cannot believe how quickly this year has disappeared or how much I’ve enjoyed blogging. It’s encouraged me to try new things, be more creative, try and improve my photography and be more organised! Now that I work full time it can get a bit much trying to keep up a blog too, but seeing as every new comment and view, or even finding a new blog to read, still excites me as much as it did 12 months ago I have no plans to give up or slow down.

I also have big plans for next year, moving in with my boyfriend and (if I can save enough) a trip to America, as well as various day trips and craft projects! This brings me nicely onto the gorgeous embroidery pictured below, which seems very apt for this time of year. You might recognise it as the house from ‘Up’ a lovely Disney pixar film, providing you make it past the first depressing 10 minutes, and I was lucky enough to win the embroidery piece from Meredith at one sheepish girl earlier in the year. It sits on my window sill matching my curtains perfectly and reminds me that adventure is out there, bring on 2013!